Golf swing positioning indication method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a method and device for indicating the positioning of a golf swing, characterized in that a plane formed by projection of a light source, at a certain angle with the ground, is served as a reference plane to allow a golfer to directly swing on the reference plane or swing in a swing plane parallel to the reference plane during a swing; and a point optionally selected from an intersection position of the swing plane and the ground is served as a spot, so that the swing path and the hitting point are unified in the swing plane to guide a correct swing. The method and device provided by the present invention indicate, by forming a plane wall by light projection, that the swing path, the hitting point and the target direction are unified in this plane to guide a correct swing, and thus have good popularization value.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2013/082440 with an international filing date of Aug. 28, 2013, designating the United States, now pending, and further claims priority benefits to Chinese Patent Application No. 201210316055.4 filed Aug. 31, 2012 and Chinese Patent Application No. 201210569683.3 filed Dec. 25 2012. The contents of all of the aforementioned applications, including any intervening amendments thereto, are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the technical field of the sport of golf, in particular to a method and device for indicating a golf swing.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

For the sport of golf, it is an important subject for beginners to learn how to form a correct hitting action and swing posture. The challenge of learning to play golf lies in the discordance between the golf equipment and the human body structure. The sport of golf exhibits the perfect combination of the direction of force and the time point. As the accustomed direction of force of a user is significantly different from a correct hitting force, it is difficult to master the correct method without learning. Except for few professional golfers, most of the amateurs may have less standard actions. However, no any standard direction indicating method is available for learning. At present, the common method is to exercise by some simulation instruments, and such a method is lack of realistic and instant experience as such instruments are not designed for actual hitting practices. Consequently, a beginner must accept constant action training to adapt to the correct swing or putt action or other actions and to control the path direction and movement distance of the golf skillfully, and must correct his/her swing or putt action to form a consistent correct hitting action. In most cases, a beginner usually simulates the hitting action in the green, turf or even some indoor unspecific places; and as the simulation action or posture may be different at each time, it is very difficult to for the beginner to, if merely feeling the way through his/her individual experience, master the correct hitting action in a short period of time even under the guidance of professional coaches, and unable to be corrected timely and effectively so that the beginner experiences misalignment for a long period of time and has no sense of this. Hence, in recent years, the relevant technicians have proposed some golf practice devices to assist the beginners in mastering the essential of the actions quickly. For example, Chinese Patent Application No. 201010524161.2, entitled “Indoor Golf Swing Exercising Equipment”, is characterized in that this equipment includes a suspended target board, a tee-off mat placed on the ground, more than one light ball and more than one club, wherein a target center and one main horizontal line and one main vertical line which pass through the target center are formed on the target board, scales are marked on both the main horizontal line and the main vertical line, a branched vertical line which penetrates through the surface of the target board is formed on the set scales of the main horizontal line, a branched horizontal line which penetrates through the board surface of the target board is formed on the set scales of the main vertical line; a light ball fixture is provided on the surface of the target board; a ball placement central point and a calibration line which passes through the ball placement central point are formed on the tee-off mat; and a target board surface fixture is provided on the light ball. In the structure as disclosed in this patent, by providing a target board with scales in front of the hitting point, the degree of derivation at each time of hitting may be calculated accurately, so that the golfer may adjust his/her action according to the relevant data. However, as there is no any relevant guide device, the golfer still needs to feel the way through his/her individual experience. Thus, such equipment is certainly not suitable for beginners.

For another example, Chinese Patent Application CN200610168399.X, entitled “Assistant Teaching Aid for Golf Swing Exercise”, is characterized in that the guide member comprises an arc loop surrounding a human body model, and a grip and a club head are provided at two ends of the club, respectively, with the grip being connected to a palm of the human body model while the club head being connected to the arc loop of the swing guide member so that the oscillating direction of the club head follows the path of the arc loop. Therefore, such an assistant teaching aid can help the golfer to understand various steps of a swing, and allow the golfer to make self adjustment and recognition on swing posture and angle. However, such at assistant teaching aid is merely a simulation instrument, lack of actually intuitive and realistic hitting experience. Furthermore, as the swing plane angle is different due to different height of golfers and different length of the used clubs, golfers themselves need to build the path of the arc loop of the swing action of the human body model. Hence, such an assistant teaching aid is less helpful for beginners to improve their skills.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

To solve the deficiencies of the prior art, an objective of the present invention is to provide a method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing, and this method can accurately and systematically provide a standard golf swing indication according to the body parameters of each golfer during the actual hitting practices.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a device for indicating the positioning of a golf swing by projection of a light source, and this device is simple in structure and can accurately and systematically provide a standard golf swing indication according to the body parameters of each golfer during the actual hitting practices.

To achieve the objectives mentioned above, the following technical solutions are employed in the present invention. A method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing, characterized in that a plane formed by projection of a light source, at a certain angle with the ground, is served as a reference plane to allow a golfer to directly swing on the reference plane or swing in a swing plane parallel to the reference plane during a swing; and a point optionally selected from an intersection position of the swing plane and the ground is served as a spot, so that the swing path and the hitting point are unified in the swing plane to guide a correct swing.

As further description of the above solutions, the reference plane is a light projection wall at a certain angle with the ground; a point optionally selected from a projection of the light projection wall onto the ground is served as a spot, with the axial direction of the projection being the same as the target direction; a club shaft is projected onto the projection wall, so that the swing path, the hitting point and the target direction are unified in the swing plane to guide a correct swing.

Indication members are provided, within a projection area of the light source. on the left and right sides beyond a swing area of a golfer, respectively with the indication members on the two sides being located in the swing plane.

The reference plane is a light projection wall at a certain angle with the ground; and a point optionally selected from a projection of the light projection wall onto the ground is served as a spot, with the swing plane passing through the spot and being parallel to the light projection wall.

An included angle between the reference plane of light projection and the ground 45° to 65°.

A method for indicating the positioning'of a golf swing is characterized by specifically including the following steps:

a. first, adjusting an included angle between the reference plane of projection of a light source and the ground, and optionally selecting a point from a projection of the light source onto the ground as a spot;

b. positioning the shaft within the coverage of the light projection, and adjusting the angle of inclination of the shaft to be the same as that of the reference plane; and

c. swinging, with the shaft being kept to move within the coverage of the light projection during a swing.

A method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing is characterized by specifically including the following steps:

a. first, adjusting an included angle between the reference plane of projection of a light source and the ground, and optionally selecting a point from a projection of the light source onto the ground as a spot;

b. positioning the shaft beyond the coverage of the light projection, keeping the shaft parallel to the reference plane, and adjusting the angle of inclination of the shaft to be the same as that of the reference plane; and

c. swinging, with the shaft being kept to move in a plane parallel to the reference plane during a swing.

A device for indicating the positioning o a golf swing is characterized by including a support and a projector provided on the support, with a light beam from the projector being obliquely projected into a hitting area.

The width of the light beam from the projector is within 30 cm, and an included angle between a projection area of the projector and the ground is 45° to 65°.

The projector is an I-shaped projector or a point-like multi-light-source projector; and a lifting device and a moving holder for adjusting a projection angle of the projector are provided between the support and the projector.

A light prompt device is provided on the club shaft.

The light prompt device is reflective paper stuck onto the club shaft or reflective coating applied onto the club shaft.

The light prompt device includes a photoelectric sensor, controller and flasher; the photoelectric sensor is connected to the controller, and converts an optical signal into an electric signal and then sends the electric signal to the controller; and the controller controls the flasher to give a flash prompt.

By the technical solutions as described above, the present invention has the following beneficial effects.

First, the device for indicating the positioning of a golf swing, designed on the basis of the principle of tangent, has an accuracy of indication of a swing direction up to 100%, and is further able to accurately position the standard swing path of each different club. The resulting standard swing indication device, as the basis of measuring the correctness of a swing action, plays an important role in the popularization and development of the sport of golf.

Second, an angle of projection in the present invention is determined by an angle between a person griping the club and the ground; based on the principle of flat swing, the club shaft is projected to be perceived to move in the plane to achieve a correct swing; and a plane wall is formed by light projection, so that the swing path, the hitting point and the target direction are unified in the plane to guide a correct swing. A good teaching facility is provided for beginners or golfers who may have less standard actions to be corrected,

Third, the technical solutions embody intuitiveness, correctness and simplicity, hence the resulting golf teaching-yourself system, as a teaching instrument by which the swing action may be mastered without any coach, is thus of great significance in saving the teaching cost, improving the teaching efficiency and popularizing the sport of golf.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view showing a state in which a golfer is swinging according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a structural diagram of another embodiment of the present invention;

in which:

-   1: golfer -   2: Light projection wall -   3: Support -   4: Projector -   5: Moving holder -   6: Club -   7: Light prompt device -   7-1: Photoelectric sensor -   7-2: Controller -   7-3: Wireless signal transceiving module -   7-4: Loudspeaker -   7-5: Display device -   7-6: Photoelectric sensor -   7-7: Controller -   7-8: Flasher -   8: Fixed mount -   8-1: Moving oscillating member -   8-2: Moving oscillating member -   9: Light projection wall -   10: Spot

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Geometrically, a tangent is a straight line that just touches a certain point on a curve. More accurately, when a tangent passes through a certain point (i.e., point of tangency) on a curve, the direction of the tangent is the same as that of this point. That is, a certain point M on an arc moves toward the point of tangency, and when the point M infinitely gets close to the point of tangency, the direction of the arc M is the same as that of the straight line (directed to the direction of the straight line). After many times of tests, it is indicated that the application of the principle of tangent in the hitting aspect is the key concept of the application of the principle of tangent in the sport of golf, that is, the swing motion is a plane movement path, the hitting point is the point of tangency, the target direction is the direction of the straight line, a ball flies to the target direction when being hit, and the swing, path, the hitting, point and the target direction are unified in a same plane. This principle of tangent provides a theoretical foundation for the technical solutions of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention discloses a method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing, where a plane formed by projection of a light source, at a certain angle with the ground, is served as a swing plane; and a point optionally selected from a projection of the swing plane onto the ground is served as a spot to guide the golfer 1 to swing and hit the ball. The reference plane is a light projection wall 2 at a certain angle with the ground, so that the swing path, the hitting, point and the target direction are unified in this plane to guide a correct swing. Generally, the width L of the light projection wall 2 is to be controlled within 30 cm, and an included angle a between the swing plane formed by light projection and the ground is 45° to 65°. This angle is adjustable according to an angle between a person griping the club and the ground, in combination with clubs of different models and different landing, angles. The following table shows changes in the angle of the swing plane for clubs of different numbers.

sw pw #9 #8 #7 #6 #5 #4 #3 Driver 64° 64° 63° 63° 62° 62° 61° 60° 59° 49°

During a process from swinging to hitting, the golfer takes the shadow of the club shaft projected by a light source onto the ground as the basis, to perceive the motion of the shaft in the swing plane, in order to make a correct swing.

The following specific steps are included:

a. first, adjusting an included angle between a projection plane of the light source and the ground, and optionally selecting a point from a projection of the light source onto the ground as a spot;

b. positioning the shaft within the coverage of the light projection, and monitoring the shadow of the club shaft projected by the light source onto the ground;

c. adjusting an angle respectively between the indication members on the two sides of the golfer and the ground, to ensure that the two angles with the ground are the same and that the indication members on the two sides are located in a same plane;

d. swinging, with the shaft being kept o move in the swing plane during a swing.

EMBODIMENT 1

To apply this swing indication method to the actual swing training, the present invention further discloses, on the basis of the method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing by projection of a light source, a device for indicating. the positioning of a golf swing by projection of a light source. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, this device includes a support 3 and a projector 4 provided on the support, with a light beam from the projector 4 being obliquely projected into a hitting, area. The projector 4 is an I-shaped projector producing a linear projection, the width of the light beam from the projector is 8 cm, and an included angle between a projection area of the projector and the ground is 61°. A lifting device is provided between the support 3 and the projector 4, by which the projector may be lifted up or down. The projector is provided with a moving holder 5 for adjusting a projection angle of the light beam from the projector.

When in use, the projection angle of the light beam from the projector is accordingly adjusted according to the model of the used club; then, the club is placed close to the light projection wall and the position of the club is adjusted according to the shadow of the club projected by the light source onto the ground so that the shaft is completely within the coverage of the light projection wall; and finally, swing and hitting training is carried out within the coverage of the light projection wall.

EMBODIMENT 2

As shown in FIG. 2, a light prompt device 7 is provided on the shaft of the club 6. In this embodiment, the light prompt device 7 is reflective paper stuck onto the club shaft or reflective coating applied onto the club shaft.

EMBODIMENT 3

As shown in FIG. 3, this embodiment differs from the above solutions in that the light prompt device 7 includes a photoelectric sensor 7-1, controller 7-2, a wireless signal transceiving module 7-3, a loudspeaker 7-4 and a display device 7-5; the photoelectric, sensor is connected to the controller, converts an optical signal into an electric signal and then sends the electric signal to the controller; and the controller controls the loudspeaker in a wireless control manner to give a sound prompt.

EMBODIMENT 4

As shown in FIG. 4, this embodiment differs from the above solutions in that the light prompt device 7 includes a photoelectric sensor 7-6, controller 7-7 and flasher 7-8; the photoelectric sensor is connected to the controller, and converts an optical signal into an electric signal and then sends the electric signal to the controller; and the controller controls the flasher to give a flash prompt.

EMBODIMENT 5

As shown in FIG. 5, indication members are provided, within a projection area of the light source, on the left and right sides beyond a swing area of a golfer, respectively, with the indication members on the two sides being located in the swing plane. In the aspect of the device, in addition to the members as described in embodiment 1, the device further includes fixed mounts 8 provided on the left and right sides within the projection area of the light source and two moving oscillating members 8-1 and 8-2 which are provided on the fixed mounts, parallel to each other and located in a same plane. An included angle b between the two moving oscillating members and the ground is the same as the swing plane angle formed by the light projection, so that the two moving oscillating members are kept in the projection plane of the light source. In this embodiment, the moving oscillating members 8-1 and 8-2 are straight round rods, the ends of which are articulated with the fixed mounts.

The following specific steps are included:

a. turning on the projector, adjusting an included angle between the reference plane of projection of the light source and the ground to be 45° to 65°;

b. providing fixed mounts having moving oscillating members on the left and right sides within the projection area of the light source, adjusting the distance between the fixed mounts on the left and right sides so that the fixed mounts having moving oscillating members are located beyond the swing area;

c. adjusting the angle of inclination of the moving oscillating members to be the same as that of the reference plane, and keeping the moving oscillating members on the two sides in a same plane;

d. optionally selecting a point from a projection of the light source onto the ground as a spot;

e. positioning the shaft within the coverage of the light projection, and adjusting the angle of inclination of the shaft to allow the shaft to be parallel to the moving oscillating members; and

f. swinging, with the shaft being kept to be parallel to the moving oscillating members and to move within the coverage of the light projection during a swing.

EMBODIMENT 6

As shown in FIG. 6, this embodiment differs from embodiment 5 in that, beyond the reference plane of light projection, a swing plane parallel to the reference plane is built for swing practices. The reference plane is a light projection wall 9 at a certain angle with the ground, and a point optionally selected from a projection of the light projection wall 9 onto the ground is served as a spot 10, with the swing plane passing through the spot and being parallel to the light projection wall 9. The plane of the moving oscillating members 8-1 and 8-2 in the indication members provided on the left and right sides beyond the swing area of the golfer is parallel to the reference plane, and passes through the spot 10.

The following specific steps are included:

a. first, adjusting an included angle between the reference plane of projection of the light source and the ground to be 45° to 65°;

b. providing moving oscillating members 8-1 and 8-2 which are parallel to the reference plane, and adjusting the distance between the fixed mounts on the left and right sides so that the fixed mounts having moving oscillating members are located beyond the swing area;

c. by taking the reference plane of projection of the light source for reference, adjusting the angle of inclination of the moving oscillating members to be the same as that of the reference plane;

d. placing the ball on a straight line where the plane of the moving oscillating members 8-1, and 8-2 is intersected with the ground;

e. swinging, with the shaft being kept to move along the plane of the two moving oscillating members during a swing.

This device designed for actual hitting practices, instead of being an aiding instrument, organically combines four parameters together, i.e., indication of the target direction, indication of the hitting point, indication of the swing plane path and indication of the swing plane angle, for universal use by every individuals, and provides a good teaching facility for beginners or golfers who may have less standard actions to be corrected.

The foregoing merely describes preferred embodiments of the present invention. The light prompt device may give a prompt by both flash and sound; and the projector may work by invisible light in addition to visible light, for example, in a manner of infrared sensing, in which case infrared sensors for limiting the position of two ends of the club are provided on the periphery of the club to guide a correct swing. A person of ordinary skill in the art may make various variations and improvements without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention, and those variations and improvements fail into the protection scope of the present invention. 

I claim:
 1. A method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing, characterized in that a plane formed by projection of a light source, at a certain angle with the ground, is served as a reference plane to allow a golfer to directly swing on the reference plane or swing in a swing plane parallel to the reference plane during a swing; and a point optionally selected from an intersection position of the swing plane and the ground is served as a spot, so that the swing path and the hitting point are unified in the swing plane to guide a correct swing.
 2. The method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing according to claim 1, characterized in that the reference plane is a light projection wall at a certain angle with the ground; a point optionally selected from a projection of the light projection wall onto the ground is served as a spot, with the axial direction of the projection being the same as the target direction; a club shaft is projected onto the projection wall, so that the swing path, the hitting point and the target direction are unified in the swing plane to guide a correct swing.
 3. The method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing according to claim 1, characterized in that indication members are provided, within a projection area of the light source, on the left and right sides beyond a swing area of a golfer, respectively, with the indication members on the two sides being located in the swing plane.
 4. The method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing according to claim 1, characterized in that the reference plane is a light projection wall at a certain angle with the ground; and a point optionally selected from a projection of the light projection wall onto the ground is served as a spot, with the swing plane passing through the spot and being parallel to the light projection wall.
 5. The method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing according to claim 1, characterized in that an included angle between the reference plane of light projection and the ground is 45° to 65°.
 6. The method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing according to claim 1, specifically comprising the following steps: a. first, adjusting an included angle between the reference plane of projection of a light source and the ground, and optionally selecting a point from a projection of the light source onto the ground as a spot; b. positioning the shaft within the coverage of the light projection, and adjusting the angle of inclination of the shaft to be the same as that of the reference plane; and c. swinging, with the shaft being kept to move within the coverage of the light projection during a swing.
 7. The method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing according to claim 1, specifically comprising the following steps: a. first, adjusting an included angle between the reference plane of projection of a light source and the ground, and optionally selecting a point from a projection of the light source onto the ground as a spot; b. positioning the shaft beyond the coverage of the light projection, keeping the shaft parallel to the reference plane, and adjusting the angle of inclination of the shaft to be the same as that of the reference plane; and c. swinging, with the shaft being kept to move in a plane parallel to the reference plane during a swing.
 8. A device for indicating the positioning of a golf swing according to claim 1, comprising a support and a projector provided on the support, with a light beam from the projector being obliquely projected into a hitting area.
 9. The device for indicating the positioning of a golf swing according to claim 8, characterized in that the width of the light beam from the projector is within 30 cm, and an included angle between a projection area of the projector and the ground is 45° to 65°.
 10. The device for indicating the positioning of a golf swing according to claim 8, characterized in that the projector is an I-shaped projector or a point-like multi-light-source projector; and a lifting device and a moving holder for adjusting to projection angle of the projector are provided between the support and the projector.
 11. The device for indicating the positioning of a golf swing according to claim 8, characterized in that a light prompt device is provided on the club shaft, the light prompt device being reflective paper stuck onto the club shaft or reflective coating applied onto the club shaft or giving a prompt by sound and/or flash.
 12. The method for indicating the positioning of a golf swing according to claim 2, characterized in that indication members are provided, within a projection area of the light source, on the left and right sides beyond a swing area of a golfer, respectively, with the indication members on the two sides being located in the swing plane. 